Premium Leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio Case Preview

With our Premium Leather iPad Pro cases for the 12.9 arriving and shipping, we turn our attention to the 12.9's baby brother, our Premium Leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case. Our Folios for the iPad Pro, Air and Mini are some of our most popular models. Since the announcement of the 9.7, we have received many calls and emails asking when we would have the 9.7 Folio cases ready. Well, we are almost there.

MacCase has been making Folios for the iPad since Apple has been making tablets. Like the iPhone for Apple, MacCase's leather iPad Folio is the product by which many people become aware of our brand.  Our Folios have created many MacCase customers.

Let's face it, there are a lot of iPad cases available. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the vast majority of them are landfill waiting to happen. They are poorly designed, poor engineered and poorly manufactured to last a very limited amount of time before ultimately breaking and tossed away.

I can tell you right now that the Premium Leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case is about as far way from those cases as you can get. With many of these cheap, craptastic cases starting around $10 you going to need to be pretty special if your MSRP is $149.95.

Our new 9.7 Folio case is pretty special.

So what makes this leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case so special? Let's start with the heart of the case, the frame. The frame is where the tablet interacts with the case and where you interact with the tablet. It is the single most important part of the entire design.

Before any hides are picked or anything is sewn together, a great deal of time, money and energy is spent on developing the frame. In the case of the 9.7 model, a brand new frame was designed, engineered, built and tested. It worked flawlessly and was then discarded. Yup.

Why?

A few customers who purchased the 12.9 Folio called and wrote in to tell us that they could not access the Control and Notification centers when the iPad was in horizontal or landscape mode. We tested it and it was true. In order to access these controls you need to be able to touch an area in the black bezel just off the actual screen. When in the horizontal position, our frame blocked this area.

This realization was made just as the new tooling for the new frame for the 9.7 was being completed. So, while it did work perfectly, it was immediately scraped for a new design which allowed the access to these areas in the bezel. Was it expensive to have to go back and remake all the tooling to make the frame? You bet it was. Was it going to delay the production of the new leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case.

Yes.

Are these the types of things you do when you are trying to build the world's best iPad case?

Absolutely.

If the frame is not designed, engineered and built perfectly, it doesn't matter how soft the hides are or how well they are sewn together. The frame is stamped from a single sheet of alloyed steel. It's then folded and welded to a very tight specification to insure it not only holds Apple's newest tablet in place but that you have access to all the ports and controls. Even if only a small percentage want access to all the ports and controls.

We know our designs cannot be everything to everyone, but that does not mean you ignore something that can be improved through a little more work and cost. The frame has to be strong. If you've ever purchased a snap in plastic case for an iPad, you've learned that after a short time the corners develop cracks and eventually break off offering no protection for the most vulnerable areas. In essence, you've wasted your money.

Having this new lightweight, yet amazing strong, stamped steel frame securing your iPad vs. a cheap plastic frame is the difference between driving a Bentley to get somewhere vs. donning a pair of cheap, ill fitting plastic roller skates. At MacCase, we always remember, you bought the world's most expensive tablet computer. We design our cases accordingly.

The new frame is complimented by our integrated Apple Pencil pocket. Customers who have searched the internet for the best pencil storage solution have told us that the MacCase solution is the best from any manufacturer at any price. The 9.7 case overall is smaller than it's 12.9 big brother, but the Pencil pocket is the same size on both cases. Therefore, the Pencil pocket takes on a much more prominent visual role with the leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case.

Materials and colors will be the same for the 9.7 as the other Folios in the Premium Leather Collection. Our authentic, distressed Vintage hides, as beautiful as ever, will make up the majority of the first production run. The Vintage is complimented by our pebble grain, satin Black for customers who prefer a more classic looking case.

One note about the new design. The 9.7 iPad Pro and the current iPad Air are the same form factor. This means the overall size and shape of the two tablets are the same. Given this, we will use one design for both tablets. The Folio will accommodate the details of both tablets. iPad Air owners looking for the best in a folio style case will benefit from all the innovation and improvements made for the 9.7 as one design ail work for both model.

The iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case will be our best ever. We cannot wait for these to be inbound. Once they are, we will send out an update to let everyone know. We will begin taking orders at this time. Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in our newest design.

"So what makes this leather iPad Pro 9.7 Folio case so special? Let's start with the heart of the case, the frame."